Halloween Facts and Stuff

Dennis — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 17:09:14 +0000

In honor of my favorite holiday next week, Halloween, here is some interesting reading:

Many experts believe the druids were the first to observe Halloween. Dating back to 700 B.C., they celebrated the festival of Samhain (the end of the harvest and a time to honor the dead) on November 1. In the ensuing years, the night before became known as the Eve of All Hallows, a.k.a. Hallow Even, a.k.a. Hallow e’en.
Ever wonder how trick-or-treating got started? On the evening before Samhain, people left food on their doorsteps to keep hungry spirits from entering the house. Festival-goers started dressing in ghost, witch, and goblin costumes so wandering spirits would leave them alone. To this day, these are Halloween’s most popular costumes.
The word witch comes from the Saxon word “wicca”, which means “wise one.”

Black cats, those customary Halloween icons, were originally believed to be witches’ familiars, a kind of cosmic sidekick who protected the witches’ powers from negative forces.
Some so-called vampire bats do drink blood, but they’re not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on cattle, horses, and birds.

The biggest pumpkin in the world tipped the scales at a whopping 1,337.6 pounds. This gigantic gourd was weighed in October, 2002 at a pumpkin festival in Topsfield, Mass.
Of all canned fruits and vegetables, pumpkin is the best source of vitamin A. Just a half-cup of the orange stuff has more than three times the recommended daily requirement.
The very first jack o’ lantern was made out of a turnip.

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